DHAKA: In the latest in a series of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, Samir Das, an auto driver, has been beaten to death in Daganbhuiyan in Feni district, with police saying it appears to be a “pre-planned murder”.Samir (28), who was killed on Sunday night, is the eighth to die since the lynching of garment factory worker Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh on Dec 18, as attacks on the minority community, including its properties, continue in the Muslim majority nation.The incident in Daganbhuiyan came on a day renowned Hindu musician and senior Awami League functionary Proloy Chaki died in police custody – his family members have accused prison administration of denying necessary medical care rubbishing police’s claim that “it was a natural death”. “Samir was beaten to death, country-made weapons were used. The attackers stabbed him, and then fled in his battery-operated auto-rickshaw. It appears to be a pre-planned murder,” a police officer said, adding no arrests have been made yet.The attacks on religious minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh has further strained Delhi-Dhaka ties, with India last week slamming the Muhummad Yunus-led interim govt for attempting to whitewash the communal intent behind the crimes. Responding to India, the Yunus-led administration, sought to downplay reports about incidents, including the killings, as attempts “to destroy communal harmony through false propaganda”.
